"But we often don't value people who are wise enough to keep some of their lives private. We label them as elitist or non-authentic. We want to know what they are hiding. In the blogging community and the online Christian world I wonder if we value what we call authenticity but we have come define it as the sharing of everything."
"What I didn't know at 14 but I know now is that the best stories are the ones that are told honestly about the very, very normal." I thought this was fascinating. I know some people probably think I overshare, but I hope what I'm doing is writing honestly about the "very, very normal".

There's nothing extreme or dramatic about our lives and I hope I never try to create it.

"I have a great and rare gift: Jack & I both work full-time and somehow remain the primary influence in the lives of our children. We work, and we are still truly raising them. We are the primary voice. We are true parents. I remember this each time I go to meet with one of my students and bring my kids along. I remember and thank God for this gift each time I bring them into my office (where a bassinet and bouncy seat reside for the baby, and where she's been able to be by my side for the past 5 months). I am thankful to God for this new and experimental model of mommy-ministry. My students see so much of my marriage, and they witness our parenting. We make an effort to bring them into the model. We do not want them to miss the fact that our kids come first. (We want them to grow up and put their marriage and kids first, too!)"

"One little "drip" might not seem like much. That is, until you get your "water bill" and you realize how much those individual drips "cost" you. Just like the water trickling out costs you money, the attitude with which you view your spouse can cost you the health of your marriage."

"I wonder how often we bend under the pressures of, "not good enough," and instead of being authentic, we seek to make ourselves a carbon-copy of someone else. The thought is devastating & I can't do much about it."

"Because North America and Christ's bride the church, we believe that things like date nights and vacations and retreats and a beautiful home and ample food and lessons for our kids are well deserved and good and basic, if we are 'responsible' with our money."

"I get a little cringe-y when this sort of thing happens. To me, it cheapens the sacrifice made by those who gave their one beautiful life in its sudden entirety. But it also cheapens the weight of the average, unimpressive life lived imperfectly but beautifully for God."

"I'm not exactly sure what it means to love a horse and talk to plumbers in the midst of the everyday life stuff, in the midst of just finally figuring out that thing I really want to do, in the midst of learning my own art and being brave enough to share it, in the midst of junk mail and school supplies."

"My students are often Christians who are old enough to mock mercilessly the people that gave of their time sacrificially to disciple them when they were young but who are not yet mature enough to be able to disciple others. I often find them quick-off-the-draw-ready with a forceful and sophisticated critique of most any traditional religious belief or practice. They can be sadly flummoxed, however, by a simple request to explain what is true. If I wonder, "What are some problems with the doctrine of the atonement?" hands fly up all over the room, but if I straightforwardly ask, "What is the gospel?" the room falls strangely silent, and I find myself staring at rows of students quietly avoiding making eye contact."

"I have therefore increasingly made it my self-imposed task to help my students find their way to their mature identities in a manner that does not make their parents and childhood teachers and pastors the foil in the process."

"As one born as a result of rape, I feel those who demanded that Congressman Akin step down allow the pro-abortion narrative to remain…that those born of rape aren't deserving of life and that it's somehow compassionate to push a woman, so horribly violated, toward abortion."

"My understanding of Christian womanhood doesn't include being grateful for limitations on the right to informed consent. Nor does it include cooperating with medical interventions that are of questionable benefit to women."

About

Peyton and I have been married for just over six years. He is a pharmacist and I stay at home with (and homeschool!) our two children. Our little girl was born on April 2, 2009. She is amazing- beautiful, funny and smart. Then on April 12, 2011, we welcomed a little boy, Graves. We just adore him. I love getting to know my husband, my daughter, my son and my Lord more and more each day. Peyton and I met, fell in love, married, and had our two children in Mississippi. But, because it's always been a dream of Peyton's (and became a dream of mine), in February of 2014 we embarked on what we knew would be a temporary adventure to the Big Apple. We currently live in Brooklyn and are loving and learning and growing so much. But big pieces of all four of our hearts will always be in Mississippi and we know one day (not too far away) we will return. There is nothing like Brooklyn and there is nothing like Dixie and I am grateful to the Lord for giving me both. These are the best days of my life. Thank you for wanting to share in them.